Sandra Bullock: 'Gravity' isn't a female film, it's a human film

By Sheena McKenzie, for CNN, and Lidz-Ama Appiah, CNN

Updated 1732 GMT (0132 HKT) November 7, 2013

Sandra Bullock: "Gravity" star through the years6 photos

Sandra Bullock – Sandra Bullock was on the red carpet this week for the premiere of her latest film, "Gravity," at the London Film Festival. She spoke to CNN about why gender shouldn't be an issue in action films.

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Sandra Bullock: "Gravity" star through the years6 photos

Power couple – The 49-year-old plays the lead role of astronaut Dr Ryan Stone, alongside co-star George Clooney (pictured at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year.) "There is a female and male in the film. The point of view is everyone's point of view," said Bullock.

Speed, 1994 – Long before Bullock was hurtling through space, she was careering down a highway with Keanu Reeves in the 1994 film which helped launch her career -- "Speed."

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Sandra Bullock: "Gravity" star through the years6 photos

The Proposal, 2009 – Much like Cameron Diaz or Jennifer Aniston, Bullock has made a name for herself as the likeable, all-American girl next door, hovering somewhere between femme fatal and affable comedian. Here, she plays an executive hatching a plan to marry her assistant, played by Ryan Reynolds, in 2009 rom-com "The Proposal."

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Sandra Bullock: "Gravity" star through the years6 photos

Blind Side, 2010 – She might be better known for her chick flicks, but there's no doubting Bullock's commercial success. In 2010 she won the Academy Award for best actress in "Blind Side," playing a southern mom who adopts a black teenager.

Story highlights

Oscar-winning actress was suspended from puppet strings for tough lead role

Would rather spend time with adopted son, than attend glittering Hollywood events

If ever there was a costume that erased gender, it's got to be an astronaut's suit. Big, bulky, with a uniform shape and reflective mask, it's pretty hard to tell whether the person inside is male, female, or Ham the chimpanzee.

So when Sandra Bullock plays an astronaut hurtling through space in new blockbuster "Gravity," one of the only clues she's even a woman is the sound of her hysterical gasping: "I can't breathe! I can't breathe!"

For 49-year-old Bullock, playing the lead role of Dr Ryan Stone in the thriller which premieres in Britain this week, this is not a female action film -- it's a "human action film."

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And if it were up to her, the rest of Hollywood would stop making a distinction between the two.

"There is a female and male in it. The point of view is everyone's point of view, it just so happens that I have a female body and I fortunately got to do the part," she told CNN in an interview at the London Film Festival screening.

"We were very conscious to not make it about the sex -- we made it about the situation and the adversities, rather than 'this is a woman in adversity' or a 'man in adversity.' Anyone can put themselves in my character's situation and feel exactly the same."

Indeed, the infinite blackness of space, and indistinct white uniforms worn by Bullock and co-star George Clooney, create a unique environment not just free from gravity -- but traditional gender cues.

It's quite literally a world away from some of Bullock's best known roles -- the love interest of terrorist-busting cop Keanu Reeves in 1994 thriller "Speed," the tom boy FBI agent turned bombshell in 2000 chick flick "Miss Congeniality," or the executive trying to marry her assistant in 2009 rom-com "The Proposal."

Her 2010 hit "The Blind Side" -- in which she plays a southern mom who adopts a black teenager -- earned her an Academy Award for best actress, also becoming the first film with a sole female lead to take over $200 million at the U.S. box office.

Yet the day before she scored the highest accolade in cinema, Bullock was picking up the Golden Raspberry Award for worst actress in 2010 comedy "All About Steve."

She is one of the few actors to accept the prize in person, revealing a charming ability to not take herself too seriously in a notoriously cutthroat industry.

"They said that nobody went to see this film, but there's over 700 members here and that means the majority of the 700 voted," she joked at the time.

Mom's the word

While Forbes this year named Bullock the most marketable celebrity in the world, with annual earnings of $14 million, it seems her biggest priority right now is not career -- but family.

When it was time for the 2010 Oscar after-party, the best actress-winner instead opted to go home to her newly adopted son Louis -- whom she named after New Orleans jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, also from her child's hometown.

It is perhaps a sign of Bullock's strength of character that she continued with the adoption process after splitting with husband and TV mechanic Jesse James, after his infidelities were exposed in the press.

Famous female scientists in film 5 photos

Famous female scientists in film5 photos

Famous female scientists in film – Academy Award-winning actress Natalie Portman tells CNN she hopes her role as astrophysicist Jane Foster in "Thor: The Dark World" encourages a new generation of female scientists.

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Famous female scientists in film5 photos

Jane Foster, "Thor: The Dark World," 2013 – The 32-year-old Israeli-born American plays the love interest of Marvel Comics superhero Thor in the Hollywood blockbuster premiering this week. Jane Foster (pictured here) was originally a nurse, but was recast as a scientist for the film.

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Famous female scientists in film5 photos

Jodie Foster, "Contact," 1997 – She's not the first female scientist on the big screen. Here, Jodie Foster plays astrophysicist Ellie Arroway in 1997 film "Contact" -- based on the novel by Carl Sagan.

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Famous female scientists in film5 photos

Sigourney Weaver, "Gorillas in the Mist," 1988 – Sigourney Weaver played zoologist Dian Fossey in the Academy Award nominated film, "Gorillas in the Mist." Real-life naturalist Fossey, originally from Kentucky, studied mountain gorillas in Rwanda as part of her remarkable work.

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Famous female scientists in film5 photos

Carrie Fisher, "Star Wars IV," 1977 – When Carrie Fisher appeared as Princess Leia in "Star Wars," she showed a generation of young women that Sci-Fi heroes weren't all lazer-blazing men.

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Sandra Bullock: America's sweetheart 24 photos

Sandra Bullock: America's sweetheart24 photos

We know you don't need another reason to love Sandra Bullock. The acclaimed actress has earned the title of "America's sweetheart" by being charming and self-deprecating, grounded but also a talented Hollywood star.

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Sandra Bullock: America's sweetheart24 photos

In 1992, Bullock costarred with Tate Donovan in the comedy "Love Potion #9." The pair dated for a bit after filming ended.

In 2005, Bullock reprised her role as Gracie Hart in "Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous."

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Sandra Bullock: America's sweetheart24 photos

Former "Speed" co-stars Keanu Reeves and Bullock reunited in 2006 for the romantic drama "The Lake House."

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Sandra Bullock: America's sweetheart24 photos

In 2007, Bullock steps out with her then-husband, Jesse James, at the premiere of "Premonition" in Hollywood.

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Sandra Bullock: America's sweetheart24 photos

The actress stars as Linda in the psychological thriller "Premonition."

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Sandra Bullock: America's sweetheart24 photos

Ryan Reynolds and Bullock shake things up in 2009's "The Proposal."

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Sandra Bullock: America's sweetheart24 photos

Mary Horowitz (Bullock) thinks she's in love with cable news cameraman Steve (Bradley Cooper) in the 2009 film "All About Steve." The film went on to be nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards in 2010, with Bullock winning for "worst actress" -- coincidentally, the same year she won the best actress Oscar for "The Blind Side."

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Sandra Bullock: America's sweetheart24 photos

Lily Collins, Bullock, Tim McGraw, Jae Head and Quinton Aaron say grace in a scene from "The Blind Side."

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Sandra Bullock: America's sweetheart24 photos

Bullock accepts the best actress award for "The Blind Side" during the 82nd Annual Academy Awards in March 2010 in Hollywood.

Melissa McCarthy and Bullock bring the funny as law enforcement partners in 2013's "The Heat."

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Sandra Bullock: America's sweetheart24 photos

Bullock is set adrift in space in the 2013 thriller "Gravity," which earned her several accolades, including a best actress Oscar nomination.

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Today, mother and son have eschewed the bright lights of Los Angeles for a home in Austin, Texas, with Bullock admitting: "I feel happier, better and younger now than I did 10 years ago."

Singing her praises

Bullock grew up in a house of music, her German mother Helga and American father John, both opera enthusiasts who taught singing.

She and younger sister Gesine lived in Washington D.C, in a home constantly visited by their parents' artist friends. When Bullock announced that she wanted to pursue an acting career, her family was supportive, though realistic about the hard slog ahead.

Moving to New York and supporting herself with various hospitality jobs, Bullock was the ripe old age of 30 --practically over-the-hill for a woman starting out in Hollywood -- when she starred in breakthrough film "Speed."

Brave new world

And while she's since starred in numerous box office hits, you get the feeling "Gravity" is a film that pushes her beyond the chick-flick persona she's arguably better known for.

"It took away anything I knew as an actor," she said, referring to Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón's decision to shoot the actors in 12-wire harnesses, to recreate zero-gravity.

The harnesses were either operated by puppeteers, or attached to rotating rigs. All of which took place inside a cube covered in thousands of LED lights to simulate the alternating glow of the sun. Visual effects artists added the spacesuits later.

"It left me closed in a box for 10 hours a day, with no one to talk to, and no life form around me," said Bullock. It was the first of its kind, it was a prototype, they invented it. They didn't know if it would work until the day we got into it.

"As alienating and frustrating as it was, being as cumbersome as it was, you knew you were a part of something that no one else had done before. You just sucked it up, and as crabby as I was most days, it worked. I didn't want to be very comfortable, my character wasn't comfortable in space."

Judging by "Gravity's" phenomenal box office sales -- so far taking over $400 million worldwide -- the rest of us are also lining up to see America's sweetheart outside her comfort zone.